Road marker



July 18', 3 F. J. FARRELL I 1 ROAD MARKER Filed July so, 1937 BY 2 7y JATTOZY I I INVENTOR 5 HANQIsJ/ k/P EL L,

r J 4 i 7 v Patented July 18, 1939 UNITED STATES ROAD MARKER Francis J. Farrell, Philadelphia, Pa., assignorto Farrell Safety Road Marker, Inc., Conshohocken, Pa.

Application July 30, 1937, Serial ana-479 3 Claims.

My invention relates to a new and useful road marker and one more particularly adapted for designating traffic lanes on public highways, the primary object being to produce a marker which tis clearly visible during the day and the night and which is exceedingly durable so that the cost of replacement is minimized.

My invention still further relates to a road marker of this character which is easily and expeditiously applied to the road and one which is adequately anchored to the road surface thus guarding against loosening or crawling.

My invention still further relates to a road marker which, at least relatively speaking, is not affected by variation of temperature.

My invention further relates to a road marker which, by lying flush with the surface of the road, adds to the safety of travel as compared with road markers of the mushroom type or other types which project above the surface of the road and which often are responsible for accidents if a vehicle, riding at high speed, should ride on one or more of such projection markers, particularly when the latter are wet.

My invention further relates to a road marker which is equally applicable to roads having concrete or asphalt surfaces.

My invention still further relates to a road marker embodying all of the above and other 30 advantages which, at the same time, is inexpensive to manufacture and install.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 represents a fragmentary plan View of a portion of a road with one of my markers applied thereto.

Fig. 2 represents a fragmentary view in vertical section of the metal plate forming part of the finished marker but shown alone.

Fig. 3 represents a fragmentary view in vertical section of the road marker before it is applied to the road.

Fig. 4 represents on an enlarged scale a vertical section of Fig. 1 showing the marker as applied to a road having an asphalt surface.

45 Fig. 5 represents a view similar to Fig. 4 showing the marker as applied to a road having a concrete surface.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters indicate like parts and refer- 50 ring more particularly to Fig. 2, l designates a metal plate of any suitable size and thickness which is provided with the upper, slightly roughened surface 2 and which has cut out therefrom grommets 3 the upper edges of which deflect downwardly as at 4. From the plate I is also cut out the pendant tongues 5 which are scored at 1 to facilitate deflection of the lower tips 8 and whichare also provided with the locking, staggered tabs-9. The tongues 5 may also be provided with a reinforcing rib it if desired. 5 To the upper roughened surface 2 of the plate, with orjwithout the use of the cement II, is vulcanized the rubber mat l2 which is preferably white or of some color which is easily visible in the daytime as well as at night. The 10 rubber of which the mat I2 is composed enters through the holes [3 and M, which areleft by the cutting of thegrommets 3 and the tongues 5 respectively, andslightly underlaps the edges of the plate I, which, together with the rubber l5 underlying the deflected edges l of the grommets 3, serves permanently to lock the rubber mat l2 to the plate I, the use of the cement ll being optional, the latter being used only by way of further reinforcing the union of the rubber 20 I 2 with the plate I. The completed marker with the rubber l2 applied to the plate i will appear as shown in Fig. 3 and is now ready for application to the road bed l5 Assuming that the road bed I5 is one surfaced with asphalt, the first step in applying my road marker is to cut into the road surface a recess of the same size as the finished marker and of a depth only slightly less than the thickness of the completed marker as shown in Fig. 3., A blow torch is then played over the surface and sides of the recess to soften the asphalt surface of the road, whereupon the marker is positioned in the recess and is tamped or otherwise pressed into the partially melted asphalt. This drives the tongues 5 down into the asphalt and the pressure applied serves to deflect the lower tips 8 of the tongues 5 along the scoring 1 so that the tips 8 assume different angular positions with respect to the remaining vertical portion of the tongues 5 as best illustrated in Fig. 4. The tongues 5 with the lateral barbs 9 and the upwardly deflected tips 8 firmly and permanently anchor the marker to the asphalt particularly after the asphalt has cooled down and thus hardened and contracted.

In order to apply the marker shown in Fig. 3 to a concrete-surfaced road. it is necessary to cut a recess of the size and shape of the marker but of a depth equal to the thickness of the marker proper, that is, from the plate to the top of the rubber I 2 plus the length of the pendant tongues from the plate t down to the scoring 1. A fresh mixture of concrete l6 sufficient partially to fill it is poured into the recess. The marker is then pressed into position and the newly poured concrete solidifies around the tongues 5, the deflected tips 8 and the locking tabs 9 and also interlocks with the rough and slightly off-set vertical edges of the recess as at I! thus firmly interlocking the marker with the road bed.

In order to increase the visibility of the marker I may use the band l8 which may be black, orange, red, or any other color having satisfactory visibility and affording effective contrast with the color of the main body portion 12.

While I have shown my novel marker round, it is to be understood that the shape or size of the marker may be varied at will without departing from the scope of my invention.

It will thus be seen that my novel marker can be applied to the road bed as easily and as expeditiously as the painting of lines or circles in the conventional manner, and that my marker is many times more durable than painted lines or other signals which are relatively quickly worn off by the wheels of vehicles.

Furthermore, the passage of vehicle wheels over the surface of a marker embodying my invention serves constantly to clean and polish the surface of the marker so that it presents a bright, eye-attracting appearance at all times.

It will also be seen that, being flush with the surface of the road, the marker eliminates the hazard always present when road designating devices are allowed to project above the surface of the road.

While the plate I may be made of any desired metal I prefer to make it out of a pliable metal so that it may accommodate itself to the irregularities in the road bed that may exist when the marker is applied or that may develop later on.

Also, it will be noticed that the entire marker, as best seen in Figs. 4 and 5, is slightly thicker at its center than it is at its periphery. In other words, the marker presents a slightly convex appearance when positioned on the road with the periphery thereof substantially flush with the road surface and with the center portion thereof slightly elevated above the road surface. This greatly improves the visibility of the marker over what its visibility would be if the marker were entirely flat so that it lay completely in the plane of the surface of the road. The gradual slant from the periphery to the center of the marker enables a vehicle to pass over the marker without any obstruction or hindrance and without any risk.

With respect to the contrasting colored band I8 I Wish to point out that the same may be a separate element in the form of a ring of the same or different material as the marker proper, or the marker may be initially manufactured in two contrasting colors as desired.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A road marker comprising a metallic backing plate having one surface thereof substantially covered by a facing layer of rubber composition, integral locking projections extending from one face of said plate and imbedded in said facing layer, integral locking projections extending from the other face of said plate for imbedded engagement with a road surface, each of said projections being distorted to provide a plurality of locking points.

2. A road marker comprising a metallic backing plate having the upper surface thereof substantially covered with a rubber composition facing and having holes punched upwardly therethrough to form integral distorted flanges along the upper surface of said plate for engagement with said facing, said rubber composition facing also filling said holes and engaging the bottom edges thereof, and integral tongues punched downwardly from said plate for engagement with the roadsurface, each of said tongues having a twisted and distorted contour to provide a plurality of locking points.

3. A road marker comprising a metallic backing plate having one surface thereof substantially covered by a facing layer of rubber composition, integral locking projections extending from one face of said plate and imbedded in said facing layer, integral locking projections extending from the other face of said plate for imbedded engagement with a road surface, each of said projections being distorted to provide a plurality'of locking points, said rubber composition being of a color contrasting with the color of the road to which it is applied, and being adapted to be kept polished in its natural original color by the passage of the vehicle wheels thereover.

FRANCIS J. FARRELL. 

